


Cendrillon

by punch_kicker15



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: Bechdel Test Pass, Community: femslash_minis, F/F, Rare Pairings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-03
Updated: 2016-04-03
Packaged: 2018-05-30 21:12:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6440983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/punch_kicker15/pseuds/punch_kicker15
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU Season 5 of Buffy: Fred's an adjunct professor at UC-Sunnydale. Buffy helps Fred relax after a long, frustrating day.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cendrillon

Fred sprinted up the stairs of Sunnydale High, her toes aching with every step, hoping she wasn’t too late, cursing every student in her Introduction to Physics class. None of them could be bothered to read the material, or ask any questions for the first few weeks, but once she’d posted their midterm grades, they had all descended on her office to demand help. No wonder this class was the one that the tenured profs avoided teaching at all costs.

She rounded the corner, her heart thumping in panic. Oh, thank goodness, the auditorium doors were still open. She spotted Buffy, Willow, and Joyce down near the orchestra pit. Buffy turned and waved. 

Fred made her way down to the seat Buffy had saved for her. Joyce handed her a program. Fred skimmed it until she reached the most important entry:  _ Choreography by Dawn Summers _ . 

The girl playing Cinderella clearly forgot her lines and had to be prompted off-stage a few times, and the pulleys holding up the Fairy Godmother went haywire, pulling her up to the ceiling. Thankfully, the ballroom dance went off without a hitch. Fred watched the dancers weave around each other without putting a foot wrong, losing herself in the physics of the dancers: how they carefully controlled their their angular momentum, and exerted force against gravity for the lifts.

Buffy slipped her arm around Fred’s shoulders, gently trailing her fingers along her forearm. Fred rested her head on Buffy’s shoulder, breathing in the herbal scent of her hair, and all of the annoyances of the day began to slip away.

***

After the play, when they returned to their apartment, the pain in Fred’s feet returned. She collapsed on the sofa and started taking off her pumps. The right one came off easily, but the buckle on the left one was stuck, and after a moment of fumbling, Fred gave up.

Buffy disappeared into the bedroom, emerging a few minutes later wearing nothing but a midnight blue bra and matching panties. 

“Whoa,” Fred breathed. “Those are new.”

“You like?” Buffy asked, even though she had to know exactly what Fred’s answer would be.

“Oh, yeah.” Not the most eloquent answer, but under the circumstances, it was amazing she could even breathe. Buffy was gorgeous when she was bumming around the house in a T-shirt and sweats. Buffy in satin and lace lingerie was gilding the lily.

Good thing Fred had always loved gilded lilies.

Buffy knelt on the floor in front of Fred, and worked the stubborn shoe buckle loose. “Where’s your other slipper, Cinderella?”

Fred laughed. “Under the couch somewhere. You know, I never liked the way that story ended. Why’d he need a shoe to figure out who she was? Why couldn’t he remember her face?”

Buffy grinned wickedly as she gently ran a hand over Fred’s calf. “Maybe he wasn’t looking at her face.”

Fred laughed, and in her best Miss Texas impression, drawled, “My eyes are up  _ here _ , Your Highness.”

“Or maybe he was like that guy Professor Walsh talked about in Psych--the one who was, what did she call it, face-blind?” Buffy giggled as she pulled off Fred’s pantyhose. 

“And also voice-blind? Did he talk to her at all, or did he just tune her out?” Fred sighed. “If I was Cinderella, I wouldn’t give the time of day to that squirrelly prince. I’d go for the Fairy Godmother.”

Buffy opened a bottle of lavender-scented massage oil, and poured some on her hands. “The Fairy Godmother? How come?” She began to rub Fred’s foot, pushing gently on the arch. 

“She’s a powerful supernatural being who changed Cinderella’s life as soon as they met.”

Buffy immediately picked up the subtext. “I think she was great before they met.” 

"Aww." Then an anxious thought intruded on the feeling of warm relaxation. “Um,” Fred mumbled, “Did I miss an anniversary? Is there some reason for the hot new underwear and the yummy massage?”

“Willow said you’d had a uber suck day. I think her exact words were ‘An army of poophead undergrads descended on Fred’s office.’ So I thought you might need a little pick-me-upper tonight.” She glanced up at Fred. “Is this working? Are you feeling better?”

“Hell yes.” Fred leaned back against the couch as Buffy kissed the inside of her thigh. “I feel like the belle of the ball.”

**Author's Note:**

> For carlyinrome, who wanted the pairing, the Cinderella fairytale, lavender, and lingerie.


End file.
